As more consultations for COVID-19 vaccines are opened daily across Alaska, some providers say they are facing a recurring problem: failure to attend consultations.
“It has been a significant problem over the past week, if not more,” said Heather Harris, director of the Anchorage Department of Health.
Case in point: More than 200 people never attended scheduled appointments at the school district vaccine clinic in Anchorage on Wednesday, said Lisa Miller, a school district spokeswoman.
While ASD and other clinic providers have largely been able to adapt to the last-minute changes in vaccine use so far, health officials say that no-shows are putting some pressure on providers and are encouraging Alaskans. to cancel appointments in advance if they are not going to be there.
“I think what is good is that we are not wasting vaccine,” said Kelsey Pistotnik, program manager for the Alaska Immunization Program, during a media call on Thursday. But “it is a big burden for providers when they expect a certain number in a day and receive much less,” she said.
It is at the point where “clinics are needing to do somersaults and somersaults to ensure that no vaccines are wasted,” said Harris.
The problem seems to be that people are making appointments for the first available time – which can take weeks. But as bookings are added to the site regularly, some may come back later, reserve an earlier or more convenient time and then forget to cancel the old one, said Tessa Walker Linderman, co-leader of the Alaska Vaccine Task Force .
“We definitely have ‘shopping by appointment’ close by and I understand – we all want to be vaccinated sooner or later,” said Pistotnik. “But we are still trying to find that sweet spot so that everything really works well on the provider’s side”, as well as on the patient’s side.
“This is definitely a more recent problem,” said Pistotnik.
This month, Alaska became the first in the country to open vaccine appointments for anyone aged 16 and over who lives or works in the state, without any other eligibility restrictions – thanks in part to the large number of unfilled vaccine appointments. available at the time.
Public health officials said this week that while demand for the vaccine has generally been high since Alaska removed eligibility requirements, the general saturation of consultations in the state – particularly in Anchorage – has made it easier for people to choose what time of day to visit. vaccinations they should sign up for.
“We moved from a place where you need to schedule an appointment with many weeks to have a lot of options now,” said Harris.
Many clinic providers say they have managed to adapt to missed appointments. At the ASD clinic, the health team changed the amount of vaccine it withdraws from storage freezers each day.
“What we are doing to ensure zero waste is, if there are 1,000 registered in the morning, we will remove 500” doses from the freezer, said Miller, a school district spokesman. She added that no vaccine has been wasted so far.
A woman leads the next person in line to a vaccination post at the Anchorage School District Education Center on February 11, 2021. (Emily Mesner / ADN)
The Pfizer vaccine can be kept in freezers for about two weeks and then can last for about five days in the refrigerator, she said. After the bottles are punctured, they only last for about six hours.
Therefore, “we are not withdrawing ultra-cold storage unless absolutely necessary,” she said.
Not all clinics had the same problem. Rene Dillow, public health nurse Mat-Su, said on Thursday that only about 10% of scheduled vaccination appointments in the region were being missed.
And Juneau’s vaccination clinics cater for no-shows and cancellations, said Robert Barr, head of the planning section of the emergency operations center in Juneau. But it has not yet become a problem, he said.
Usually people who cancel or do not show up have been vaccinated in advance elsewhere or have a travel problem that affects their ability to get a second dose.
In part-time clinics, which vaccinate about 400 people, they see about 10 absences. And whole days, when about 1,000 people can get the vaccine, they see about 30 no-shows, he said.
“This is a manageable number for us. We can work with that, ”said Barr.
Juneau’s clinics have a public waiting list, which means they can call people who want injections and make up for open consultations, Barr said.
But that may change soon, as vaccine supply increases and demand begins to decline as people on the waiting list receive vaccines.
“I think maybe in April – certainly in May – we will start to see supply and demand match up, and then it will be more difficult for us to deal with,” said Barr.
There are about 7% no-shows at major vaccine clinics held at the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, said Clint Brooks, incident commander for the Fairbanks North Star Borough unified command.
But despite no-shows, Brooks said filling vacancies has not been an issue. They plan this by making appointments in excess of about 7%, keeping the clinic listed as open online, as well as maintaining a waiting list.
Harris, of the Anchorage Department of Health, said an open vaccine clinic on Friday was an effort to test whether eliminating the need to schedule an appointment would make vaccination easier for some people.
Anchorage school district staff have been looking for those who miss vaccination appointments and offering them a chance to rebook.
Miller said that although very little vaccine was wasted, the clinic asks Alaskans to cancel their appointments in advance, rather than simply not showing up.
“Honor your appointment and, if you are unable to attend, cancel so we can track it,” she said. “It helps the process.”